A rare dolphin died on the beach of the Navy's San Nicolas Island, about 60 miles west of Los Angeles, in late January during the final days of Navy exercises using a type of sonar that has been linked to fatal injuries in whales and dolphins. Although researchers have yet to determine a cause of death, a dissection of the right whale dolphin's head revealed blood and other fluid in the ears and ear canals. The same symptoms were found in deep-diving whales that washed ashore in the Canary Islands and the Bahamas after military sonar exercises. CC Times 2/22/08
The U.S. Supreme Court allowed San Francisco on Thursday to continue requiring employers to pay part of the cost of providing health care to uninsured residents while a group of restaurant owners tries to overturn the program. Justice Anthony Kennedy denied a request by the Golden Gate Restaurant Association to suspend the employer contributions while the case awaits an April 17 hearing before an appellate panel. SF Chronicle 2/22/08
The cost of San Francisco's ballooning budget deficit became clearer at City Hall Thursday, as the body that oversees city parks approved spending cuts that would eliminate open positions for hiring 20 gardeners, along with those to have been filled by other maintenance and administrative workers. SF Chronicle 2/22/08
Lawmakers called on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday to delay plans this summer to repeatedly drop aerial spray on Oakland, San Francisco and perhaps nearby cities to eradicate the apple moth infestation that threatens virtually all greenery. CC Times 2/23/08
Aerial spraying will begin in the East Bay this summer to combat the light brown apple moth, but already residents and city leaders are protesting the potentially harmful move because of concerns about health effects. Spraying of the pesticide, called Checkmate, is expected to begin in the Bay Area in August and could continue for five years over San Francisco, parts of San Mateo and Marin counties, and Oakland, Piedmont, Albany, Emeryville, Richmond, Berkeley, El Cerrito, and El Sobrante. CC Times 2/23/08
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said Friday he wants to wait to see the results of an investigation into the nation's largest beef recall before making any policy changes, but he acknowledged that the debacle has delayed negotiations to ship U.S. beef to Japan and South Korea. Speaking before meat packers and processors, Schafer said the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. recall announced earlier this week had already prompted diplomats to ask why the U.S. can't produce safe meat. CC Times 2/23/08
The Bush administration said Friday that it planned to raise fines significantly for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, part of a broader effort that includes improved border security after Congress failed to pass immigration-related legislation in 2007. CC Times 2/23/08
The state agency responsible for doling out water rights, it turns out, has a massive backlog of pending applications for Delta water at the same time experts are coming to the conclusion that the system is already maxed out. This puts the state Water Resources Control Board in a difficult position: how to satisfy historic assurances for the north at a time when the amount of water available for other parts of the state is already being cut? The pending applications, which total more than all of the Delta water delivered each year to Southern California, would, to the extent they are granted, take water directly from the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. CC Times 2/24/08
After nearly seven years in office, Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey still has a long to-do list. Near the top: Persuade a federal judge to keep him out of jail. Rey, a former timber industry lobbyist who has directed U.S. forest policy since 2001, also wants to set up state rules making it easier to build roads in remote national forests and to restore overgrown, unhealthy forests by clearing them of small trees and debris that can stoke wildfires. A Montana judge, accusing Rey of deliberately skirting the law so the Forest Service can keep fighting wildfires with a flame retardant that kills fish, has threatened to put him behind bars. CC Times 2/24/08
A McDonald’s restaurant in Hacienda Heights has been redesigned using the principles of feng shui, the ancient Chinese practice of arranging objects and numbers to promote health, harmony and prosperity.The makeover is part of the attempt by McDonald's Corp. in recent years to remodel hundreds of its restaurants to attract more patrons with decor and amenities that might entice them stay a while. CC Times 2/25/08
Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co., one of the biggest suppliers of beef to the national school-lunch program before videos showing animal cruelty at the plant helped trigger the biggest meat recall in U.S. history, probably will shut down permanently, according to the company's general manager, Anthony Magidow. WSJ 2/25/08
Restoration of long-dead salmon runs in the San Joaquin River near Fresno can easily be achieved, and it might help solve other California water problems, says an authority on native fish. Biologist Peter Moyle, a University of California at Davis researcher who is known as an expert court witness on fish issues, will discuss the river at the Salmonid Restoration Conference March 5 to 8 in Lodi. Moyle said the salmon revival might give a shot of fresh water to the troubled Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, where the San Joaquin River empties. Fresno Bee 2/24/08
The governor would have to call a state of emergency before any pesticides could be sprayed over California cities under one of several bills introduced Friday amid growing concern over a plan to eradicate a pest moth in the Bay Area. The legislation, if passed, wouldn't take effect until next year - not soon enough to stop the planned spraying this summer. But backers say the four bills will protect cities from any future pesticide programs. SF Chronicle 2/23/08
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